Re: Moderator Application: Summer, 2020
After some deliberation, I have decided to post my application publicly. So here goes!
Hello,
I am interested in applying for the position of AudioGames.net moderator. Throughout my eight or so years as a user here, I've seen the forum go through quite a few phases. Unfortunately, this most-recent phase seems to have the demand for a significant increase in moderation. We've steadily been seeing an uptick in new users, which has also brought with it conflicts, concerns, and other tasks for the administration of the forum to take on.
With that being said, I've been looking for an opportunity to give back to the community. Given that a roll such as this one would allow me to utilize my strengths, I feel that taking on this position would benefit myself (and the rest of the administration) well.
Strengths
My previous (and current) positions moderating and administering other platforms means that I've picked up ample experience in the job. I am able to competently assess situations, make appropriate decisions, and work as part of a team to insure that protocols are followed, questions are answered, and rules are enforced fairly and in an unbiased fashion. I believe that 1 of the most important assets for a moderator is their ability to put the enforcement of the platform's rules ahead of their personal feelings, and I am able to do so. Additionally, I have (on multiple occasions) played a part in tracking down and helped confirm multiple ban evaders. Namely, individuals such as Fighter2005 and Urh2006.
Weaknesses
On the contrary, a large portion of my membership here took place while I was younger and didn't handle situations in the ideal form. This sort of behavior had also resulted to 2 separate bans, the ladder of which was only recently lifted. However, a large part of that was attributed to the fact that my ban was put in place with no determined expiration date and when protocols were far less procedural. I also understand (and freely admit) that I may not always hold the most popular opinion, which has the tendency to turn people off at times. While I don't feel that this would inter fear with my ability to accurately moderate, it would be dishonest of me not to at least mention it in passing.
Level of Availability
Typically, a majority of my day(s) are spent at a computer in some capacity. Life can be (and has been) crazy for me, but I'm usually still able to maintain consistent computer access. If I had to give a rough estimation, I would say at minimum 6-8hrs a day.
Familiarity with Discord
I've been using Discord since early to mid-February, both as a user and as an administrator of servers. I am confident in my ability to reliably utilize and communicate through it. It may be somewhat more difficult when not at a computer given that the iOS app isn't the best when it comes to accessibility, but my constant use of a computer shouldn't make this a problem.
Fictional Scenario
Rather than simply recap my ideal string of actions, I thought it be best if I encapsulated a potential response in the form of a forum moderation post. I will proceed any inline comments with a //:
**
moderation:
// Since the application didn't indicate whether or not Jill's period of community watch following her previous banishment has expired yet, I'm going to assume that it has.
Jill, consider this an official warning. While constructive criticism and suggestions are welcome, you are very clearly venturing into personal attack territory. Telling someone that their project(s) suck and implying that they should quit developing games is not okay, and only serves to bring people down.
I also feel the need to remind you that this isn't the first time you've been found guilty of this sort of behavior -- you have also been warned (and banned) previously for summarily attacking users of the forum, and at this point should know better than to continue doing so.
// Jill's prior accumulated history of negative behavior is the reason as to why I bypassed a caution and jumped straight to a warning; at this point she should know better, and ignorance is no longer an excuse.
John, I'm issuing a caution here. While I understand that you may be getting frustrated with what Jill is saying, calling someone a "fucking waste of space" and expressing interest in their potential banishment isn't helping to cool things down. Please refrain from fighting fire with fire, as it does nothing to minimize the damage done.
Juan, I'm not instigating disciplinary action right now, but am politely asking that you too refrain from spitting flames. Telling someone to "shut the fuck up" only adds fuel to the fire, and has the potential to incriminate you as well.
// Juan's language barrier (coupled with a lack of any apparent negative history and the fact that he may not have bad intentions) is why I gave him a reprieve this time and instead opted to educate him on why what he's saying is wrong, and how it can potentially get him in trouble down the road.
// At this point, I would assess the topic as a whole, to determine whether or not keeping it open would still serve a useful purpose. If the only direction it has left to go is down the road to more flaming, I would close it.
As for everyone else: Given that this topic has largely devolved into flaming, I see no reason to keep it open. With that being said, I'm going to go ahead and close it, with the hopes that repeats of this incident won't be occurring.
// If, on the other hand, the topic still has potential to get back on track, I would opt to leave it open for the time being, with the hopes that it can make a turn for the better.
As for everyone else: I'm not going to close this topic for now, as I still believe it has the potential to get back on the right track. I ask that everyone drop the issue at hand and carry on, as continuing to reference it will do no good.
**
I would then write up a recap of the events and post it in the administration Discord server, to insure that everyone is on the same page and that my actions are logged should they be referred to in the future.
I think that's about it! Thank you for considering my application. If you have any questions or require any clarification on any of my answers, please feel free to reach out!
-- Audiogames-reflector mailing list Audiogames-reflector@sabahattin-gucukoglu.com https://sabahattin-gucukoglu.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/audiogames-reflector
